Google is moving aggressively -- and paying billions of dollars -- on the technology and talent it needs to create successful smart home and robotics businesses even as it acknowledges its failure to run a strong smartphone business.

Google is moving aggressively -- and paying billions of dollars for the technology and talent needed -- to create smart home and robotics businesses even as it acknowledges its failure to succeed in the smartphone business.

Google Wednesday said it had agreed to sell its Motorola smartphone unit to Lenovo for just under $3 billion, less than two years after it acquired the operation for $12.5 billion.

In a blog post explaining the move, Google CEO Larry Page said the company's other hardware efforts -- smart homes technology, robotics and wearable technology -- won't be affected by the same of the Motorola unit.